thoughts and scraps of innovation, technology, evolution and life by Peter Woodford

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Online advertising is racing ahead in Britain

Online advertising is racing ahead in Britain, growing at a roughly 40 percent annual rate, and is expected to account for as much as 14 percent of overall ad spending this year, according to media buying agencies. That is the highest level in the world, and more than double the percentage in the United States.Search accounts for 56 percent of Internet ad spending in Britain, compared with 42.5 percent in the United States, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau.

In Britain, analysts predict that it will not be long until Internet advertising catches up with TV advertising. Group M, for instance, says the Internet could account for 25 percent of British ad spending by 2010. That would place it ahead of television, which accounts for just more than 20 percent now.

Hardest hit has been Britain’s biggest commercial broadcaster, ITV. Analysts at Numis Securities estimate that ITV’s advertising revenue will fall 13 percent for 2006. Weakened by its loss of advertising, ITV has become a takeover target.